Just another UDS

[tom37]

Well I started thinking about this around the middle of last week. It feels like I read 4 million post, I'm sure it wasn't quite that many but it feels like it. Friday I grabbed two 55's and a 30'ish gallon barrels. Coconut oil in the two big ones and cinnamon in the small one. No liners and the two large have banded tops. The small one is a crimp lid on both ends.

Leaving home to do my weekly mowing all I could think about was building. Finished mowing around 4 and hit the Big Lots to grab a 29 dollar grill. Stopped off at the hardware store since in my many post reading I seem to have had a brain fart and bought 1" hardware. My bad. Traded it all out for the 3/4 stuff and was on my way home.

I used the grinder and a flap disk to remove the bottom drum end. Just a little grind right on the side of the lip will reveal a tiny line. This is where the drum end becomes a lid that will reseal to the drum or it can be made into an ash pan.

On mine I choose to grind the lip totally off the lid and use it for an ash pan. A little snug but a few taps all the way around the lid and it was a very nice fit.

BTW maybe its just my drums, but mine worked out that the grill lid fits completely Perfect on the bottom end of the barrel. Had I used it on the real top I would have had to do a mess of body work on it to make it fit.

Every thing else is pretty much the same other then I welded studs for my shelves and I welded the nipples just so if the cap gets stuck I can stick a wrench on it.

I tried PVC for the riser and ball valve. 4 dollars just seems better then 33 for a brass valve.

I didn't put the damper flapper on the lid since we want the smoke out wide open. Does anyone know if I will get to much air flow thru the top vent when I try to kill the coals after a cook?

I plan to make a cute little hat for that vent in time, to keep water out more then anything.

Loaded with 10 grey coals at 8:45 PM. On to a basket with approx 12 lbs of regular old K. 9ish I closed it up and left all three inlets open. 9:30ish I was nearing 200 and shut down the 2 caps. Held under 200 with the ball valve open full. I took one cap off and 1/2 to 3/4 on the valve. Jumped to 250 pretty quick and slowly went up to 310. At 11:00 I went out and shut the valve down to just barley open. Now we are starting to drop back to the 250 range.

This is really starting to look like a pretty cool deal. I like it already.

Here is a few pics, there is more in my album at this address.


http://picasaweb.google.com/keesfriend/UglyDrumSmoker#

OMG somehow I managed to make 2 of my pics show up and now the 3rd shows as a link. This is the way I post on all my other sites. Can anyone tell me what it is that I am doing wrong here. I use Picassa and select the hide album show link only. Simply copy and paste into the img button and the pic shows on all the other sites. That didnt work here so I entered my own

This has also worked for me else where. Any ideas guys??

Ok its 11:45 and my temp is at 330* Now I capped the second inlet and shut the valve down to 1/2. I hope this takes it back down to 250 to 300.

Thanks for looking everyone.
Tom

 

[tom37]

Ok, it was bugging the heck out of me. I kept at it until I think I figured it out.

For my case using picassa I just needed to click on the open pic and select copy address. Then do the img thing and paste. It works now.

Anyways I think I got it untill next time when I forget.

Ten till one and temp is back down to 260.

I know this probally seems stupid but after running my stick burner I keep wanting to go outside and look at it. I can see right now that this smoker is going to free up alot more time to consume beverage. And maybe I won't mess up the fire. LMAO cause at the few contest I attend, anyone with in 5 rigs from us gets a cold rig they just hollar..... hey get over here and stoke my fire for me. You might be susprised how fast I can bring temps up when I'm drinking.

 

[tom37]

Now I'm feeling like a kid at x mas with a super cool new toy.

By 1:30 am it was below 250. Something woke me up at 4:30, took a look at my remote and was down to 195. To my surprise I had only used about 20% of my fuel. I bumped the side of the barrel, that made the coals shift and it looked like the coals were going pretty decent. At 4:30 I closed the capped inlet and opened the valve to 3/4. At 7:30 am I just checked again and I am at 199 with about 60% coals left.

Thanks to everyone who has posted there ideas and thoughts from there own builds. With out the message boards I would have had alot of trial and error.

Hopefully with a few cooks I will be happy as a duck in water. If this holds true I will put my trailer up for sale to raise money for a small enclosed trailer to hold all my cookin stuff locked up ready to go at a moments notice. Long term my goal is to build a stump clone and one more UDS. Steel prices are going to have to drop a little before that happens tho.

Here is an old pic of my trailer, there is a few more tid bits add since the pic. The roof is 14 feet long with wings on the side making it 13 feet wide, two stainless tables that fold, a hanger for two 8 foot plastic tables, and rubber mat on the floor. Do you all think a asking price of 2000.00 is to high? Its also able to fire either with direct heat right under the cook chamber with a maze or offset reverse flow with just the switch of a damper plate.

I don't want to price it like my turds don't stink but I want to sell it at a fair price for myself and the buyer as well. I just really don't know where to start at.
Thanks Tom

 

[que-ball]

Thanks for the qview of your build. I'm still looking for a barrel to start mine with. Where did you find unlined food grade barrels so easily? And with open banded tops, no less!

 

[daddyzaring]

I know I am still rather new, but I have been doing alot of looking and watching prices on craigslist, and $2000 sounds a little low from what I have seen.

 

[rbranstner]

Check your local restaurants or on craigs list. I found mine at the local gun range where they also run a catering business so they have tons of food grade barrels.

 

[tom37]

Thanks Que-ball,

I need to post the location where I bought my barrel's. For the folks in KC its off 40 HWY west bound west of lake tapawingo. Can't miss it. Now he only gets a few a month, but like last time I bought barrel's I lucked out and he had 2.

I would love to find a 85 gal barrel and make a semi insulated version. Or even a stainless 55. WOW 600 bucks new tho.

I've got 2 fatties going now but thats another story and I will start a new thread for that.

 

[pandemonium]

It looks like you only have one cooking grate in the uds?

 

[tom37]

There is two, its just really hard to see. here is a better pic. Today tho I had to take the top grate out to fit a beer chicken. It just didn't want to fit under the lid. I want to take the bottom from the cheepo grill and make a lid from that. Its tall enough to fit at least three beer chickens upright on there stands. There is a few pics in the fatty section on my first cook on the UDS.

 

[pandemonium]

ohh ok i see now, i was hoping you had two since you had the dome lid just couldnt see it.

 

[meateater]

Welcome to the Ugly Side! Your gonna love that smoker. I don't think 2K is to much for that trailer at all. I always say figure out what you want for it and add a little xtra. Then advertise $ amount or best offer.

 

[duck killer 1]

where about do you live in KC? i spend a bit of time up there. it sounds like there are quite a few members on here from that area. as for the trailer outfit, i think $2000 is a great deal for someone. Lowes has a 50" (approx) mounted on a trailer that is nowhere near as nice as yours for $1989 or so and it is a much smaller unit.

 

[tom37]

I live pretty close to the Bass Pro thats right off I 70 in the Independence area. Not exactly an up scale neighbor hood but I really like the fact no one gripes about my trailer rig in the driveway or the fact that I make a big mess every now and then when I get a wild build idea.

One day when I'm rich I shall have 3 or 4 acre's and a big shop to play out my retirement in.

I am already in love with this thing. I just can't get over the length of time it runs for. I'm thinkin that if I tell the wife how much more time I can spend with her maybe she will get me a stoker for fathers day.

That would leave the spritzing and beer drinkin as high priority task. I sure wish I would have built one of these a long time ago.

 

[duck killer 1]

i know! i let mine go all day even after i was done cooking in it and with the basket filled lik you saw it the temp didnt fall below 200 till 7:30 that night! i started it at 6am1 i love it, i just am going to need to adjust my taste buds to the lump charcoal taste. maybe there is another brand that is better than the el cheapo grocery store kind? or do they all taste the same?

 

[tom37]

To be honest I am no expert. I got 6 bags of ozark oak I think the name is, my sisters father-in-law passed away and she said if I wanted it I could have it. I'm not for sure but at times talking with him in the past I believe that is all that he would use.

I have ran a bag or two in my trailer rig. It seemed to run rather hot in the side fire box.

Other then that I have always used the plain old kingsford. No lighter fluid. I did seem to notice a fresh lit charcoal smell at different times during my test run. I think since they are 10 lb bags I will just have to try one fri night after work.

From what I am seeing the lump really isnt any more money then the regular oll K.

 

[dburgette]

the UDS is, in my opinion, the best way to smoke. I may be a little bias, but it sure makes the job easy.

 

[craiger]

$2500 at least!

 

[tom37]

Wow craiger, that much.

Here is the rest of my additions. I still need to make up my mind on how I want to make my handle for the lid. And also a clever way to cover the lid vents to keep water from entering the drum.

The bottom, the ash pan and the charcoal basket.

The drum off of the base with one rack removed. I know the inside looks black black but the color is off due to the shadow and the cell phone.

The proper lid from the cheapo grill.

Re-working the lip on the base of the cheapo grill to make it into the new lid.

The new lid and a little paint. Now I can fit beer chicken or pork butts on the top shelf.

 

[duck killer 1]

good build!

 

[tom37]

Well I just can't leave it alone. I dug out an old piece of stainless cut from a table that was to big. Its just a little shelf to hold my remote thermometers and such. I didn't want things to roll off so I used 3/16 stainless round bar and made an edge on it. A couple stainless angle brackets welded to the bottom and its ready to go.

This was my first attempt at welding stainless. With the good old stick welder even. I didn't have the right gas for the mig and don't have a tig yet. I feel very confident now that on 14 gauge and thicker I can produce nice welds. Not as nice as tig but still nice.

I also made up a set of legs welded to the lower grate that stand 3" tall so another 22 1/2" grate can be placed in the drum. I want another grate above the top shelf but it is going to have to be slightly smaller to fit under the lid.

And the wheel assembly for the ugly ol drum